Union students talk crime, punishment

More than 100 tackle uncomfortable subjects at PossePlus Retreat

Union College students rank how they believe specific crimes should be valued in society at a PossePlus Retreat on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in downtown Albany. (Brittany Horn/Times Union)

Union College students rank how they believe specific crimes should be valued in society at a PossePlus Retreat on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in downtown Albany. (Brittany Horn/Times Union)

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Union College students rank how they believe specific crimes should be valued in society at a PossePlus Retreat on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in downtown Albany. (Brittany Horn/Times Union)

Union College students rank how they believe specific crimes should be valued in society at a PossePlus Retreat on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in downtown Albany. (Brittany Horn/Times Union)

Union students talk crime, punishment

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Albany

The future leaders of America aren't concerned with loitering, not wearing a bike helmet or polygamy — they want to stop homicide, sexual assault, domestic violence and hate crimes.

But deciding what counts as a punishable crime or how to define "acceptable drug use" isn't that simple, as Union College students and faculty quickly learned Saturday during an activity in which they were asked to rank the severity of various crimes.

About 105 students from the Schenectady college, along with professors and administrators, talked crime and punishment at this year's PossePlus Retreat in downtown Albany.

The gathering aims to broaden conversations about current issues and break down social barriers when discussing uncomfortable topics.

"Regardless of your race, it's going to affect you somehow," said Jill Anderson, a freshman at Union. "People that make the laws go through a lot... It's a lot harder than I thought. They have to think about (the law) and who it affects."

Anderson, who had never been to a PossePlus Retreat before this weekend, said she believed the issues being discussed were important for people of all backgrounds.

The Posse Foundation is a nonprofit organization that awards full-tuition college scholarships to students of urban backgrounds and helps them attend top schools. It holds retreats across the country each year that tackle challenging social issues and develop student leadership.

More than 10 Union students are Posse scholars.

But the dialogue doesn't just help the students. Jason Benitez, Union's director for multicultural affairs, said the retreat allows faculty to engage with students off-campus in a very open and honest way about topics that matter. The retreat operates in a "safe space" in which students are expected to respect and challenge each other's ideas rather than attack the person sharing them, and attendees are required to honor that confidentiality.

This year's focus on crime and punishment hit home for many students at Union. Maishka Antione, a junior at Union and a Posse scholar, said students confront the intersection of crime and punishment every day. From verses in the Bible to on-campus disciplinary programs, students are bombarded with messages of right and wrong.

Students are also taking it upon themselves to let their voices be heard, Benitez said, recalling a student-organized "die-in" less than two weeks ago in the student center. The protest was a part of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, which was sparked by the killings of black men last year like Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in Staten Island by police officers. Protests, rallies and social media campaigns have sprung up at many local campuses, as well as in cities across the country.

"What I personally like to see is that something in the younger group has been stirred to action," he said. "I can't remember seeing youth at the forefront of a message in a long time."